Journal News

Association News

From the Board

By Jason Moats, Board Member

Howdy! This is my first opportunity to officially communicate with you as a board member. Thank you for electing me to the AHRD board. This month, I want to share a few observations concerning our organization that I’ve made over the last decade. My AHRD story began as I started my Master's work at Texas A&M. I attended the 2006 Columbus (OH) conference and I was hooked. I was drawn in by the cordial welcome given by the rock stars of our field and every other AHRD member that I met. What made the biggest impact on me at the time was the absolute lack of any pretentiousness. Being able to sit across the table with folks like Karen Watkins, R. Wayne Pace, Gary McLean, Jerry Gilley, Lane Morris, Dick Swanson, and so many others during that (and subsequent) conferences was a powerful beginning to me. However, I knew I had found my home when a group of scholar practitioners explained how they regularly infused research and theory into their everyday work. Through these encounters, and others like them, I continue to better understand exactly how this organization is special. However, and most importantly, the things that drew me in over a decade ago — our openness and welcoming spirit, coupled with our desire and dedication to developing people — are still the reasons I am a member of the Academy and dedicate so much time to the organization. I truly believe in our mission and how we carry that out. These are the things I wish to discuss this month.

Observation #1 — The Openness and Welcoming of the Academy

I can sum this up in one word: Howdy! It is a simple greeting that is quaint and iconic of Texas. But for me, Howdy is a warm and embracing sign of openness and welcome, signifying a safe place. This is what I have observed AHRD being for so many people. From a cognitive perspective, there are few organizations where a greater volume and quality of healthy and meaningful discussions among a diverse group of scholars, practitioners, and scholar practitioners take place. Too often, organizations are plagued with groupthink or led by the thoughts of only a few. I can truly say that AHRD provides a safe place for growth and development, regardless of where a person may be in their own journey.

Observation #2 — The Value and Power of Rigor AND Relationships

As you may have heard, I am serving a second year in the role of Conference Program Chair. You can imagine the amount of work that goes into programming our conference in the US. In fact, many of you have sent notes of appreciation and good thoughts; for these things, I thank you. Being a member of the conference team or just serving in any leadership position in AHRD comes with many challenges, but this work also brings a great deal of joy and satisfaction. Over the last couple of years, as a member of the conference team, I have observed (daresay learned) that our most important guiding philosophy for AHRD is found in three words: Rigor AND Relationships.

Rigor: Informed by Guba’s (1981) criteria for assessing trustworthiness in qualitative inquiry, I suggest that rigor means that we ensure that the activities we do and the products we produce as an organization are credible, applicable, consistent, and neutral. This concept guides us to the target that AHRD should produce as scholars and scholar-practitioners. Specifically our goal, as an organization, is to create products (e.g., conferences, teleconferences, meetings, proceedings) that clearly demonstrate that they are based in rich theory and on the foundations of high quality research and not left to conjecture and popular, all-too-often passing fads. For your conference team, this principle guides many decisions ranging from the call for submissions, to how submissions are accepted, to how feedback is given to submitters. We hope that this also guides you as reviewers and authors. This does not mean that we take rigor to the point of inflexibility. It is our challenge, as an organization, to maintain rigor while exploring new and innovative ways of accommodating the needs of the organization.

Relationships: Building, keeping and expanding meaningful and strong relationships is a principle that guides us as well. Our organization thrives or withers based on the relationships we foster and maintain; in other words, the sustainability of our organization is based wholly on its relationships. We recognize this and attempt to ensure that this principle is demonstrated in everything that we do. In some cases, we are better than in others, but we are always improving. We also cannot forget that development is part of our name and therefore it should be clearly demonstrated and deeply embedded in what we do as an organization. I insist that we must maintain this developmental perspective in the forefront. In doing so, we are better equipped to build and keep strong relationships and, ultimately, maintain our organization’s viability in the ever-changing landscape that is the World we live in.

Observation #3 — We Regularly Lose Momentum

A challenge that I have observed in the various leadership positions of AHRD, whether as a leader of a SIG or with the conference committee, is the loss of momentum within the work of the organization. There seems to be a waning of enthusiasm and work that begins to occur about 90 days after the Conference in the Americas concludes. I am not exactly certain why this happens. Perhaps it is because we return home and shortly thereafter, we are subsumed by what is in front of us. Perhaps, our interest is diverted to finishing the papers and grading finals as we try to survive the semester and then let go for the summer. Like I said, I don’t know why, but the effect is that our pace of activity slows to a crawl.

We can — and should — do more. I ask that as you read this, consider what and how you can contribute to AHRD; after all, this is an organization that relies upon relationships. I then challenge you to participate — all year round! Join one of our special interest groups (SIGs), become a reviewer for our journals and conferences; heck, become a submitter for one of our journals or conferences. The available ways for you to participate are vast and varied. You are the key to the continued success of AHRD. AHRD needs you and I respectfully suggest that you need AHRD.

The Academy of Human Resource Development is a very special organization and the one where I have chosen to make my professional home. I know many of you share this perspective. I hope that you will reach out to colleagues and extol the values and benefits that the Academy offers to our members as you encourage them to join. I also hope that you will reach inward and act on how YOU can give to this organization so that it is around to continue fostering Rigor AND Relationships as we continue to develop ourselves, our colleagues and our customers.

Cheers,
Jason

P.S. The 2017 International Research Conference Call for Submissions has been released and the online collection system opens up July 1, 2016. What are you submitting for the 2017 Conference? Please plan on coming to San Antonio! When you do, we can experience Howdy on the River Walk!
J

News for Members

AHRD Conference in the Americas 2017 Call For Submissions

Colleagues,

The Conference Team has already begun preparations for the 2017 AHRD International Research Conference in the Americas. Unfortunately, we must announce that Angela Titi-Amayah has resigned as the Conference Program Chair. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the conference team, I want to express our sincere gratitude for the amazing two years Angela has spent on the team.

Jason Moats (TEEX) has graciously agreed to return one more year to the role of Program Chair (after two previous years on the Conference Team). He joins the team of Robert Yawson (Quinnipiac University), Proceedings Editor and SunYoung Park (LSU), newly appointed Associate Proceedings Editor. Track Chair Editors (TCEs) will be announced soon. I am delighted to work with this excellent team.

We are delighted that the Call for Submissions for the 2017 Conference is now available on Conference Central. There have been a few very important changes to the submission types for the conference. These changes represent our responses to feedback that we have received from our members. We hope that you are excited about these enhancements to the Conference! Here they are:

Refereed Full Manuscripts: Submitting authors will have the option to have their full manuscript published in the proceedings, or have an abstract (only) of their manuscript published. This way, authors who anticipate submitting to journals with strict guidelines around APA standard 6.02 will be in compliance with those guidelines.

The category of “Abstracts” has been removed. Rather than having a category of “Abstracts,” authors can now submit either a full manuscript, or a poster that represents their work.

The addition of a new category of submissions — posters. We are excited to have this new category, which is intended to give authors a chance to interact with their AHRD colleagues, dialog about their work, and receive feedback and input on their work.

Submissions will be accepted starting July 1, 2017 and ALL submissions (refereed and non-refereed) are due no later than September 6, 2016. Please continue to check Conference Central and the Digest often for conference news and updates.

Thank you!
Julie Gedro, President-Elect
Conference Chair

Updates on the 2016 AHRD International Research Conference in Asia and MENA

We invite you to submit papers to the 2016 AHRD International Research Conference in Asia and MENA, which will be held in Ifrane, Morocco, between November 2 and 4 (see http://www.aui.ma/ahrd2016/ for more information.) Here are some conference updates:

4. We Are Looking for Reviewers for this Conference.
If you are interested in serving as a reviewer, please go to http://goo.gl/forms/Oob7QMoNRF and fill out the form. We will ask you to review two papers at most and the review process will take place August through September.
If you have any questions about the conference, please feel free to email at ahrd2016@aui.ma or check us out at our Facebook Page.

Thank you so much for your attention, and we look forward to welcoming you to Morocco.

Sincerely,
Organizing Committee
The 2016 AHRD International Research Conference in Asia and MENA

Research Grant Opportunity

Korea SIG’s International Research on Korea Grant

Overview
The Korea SIG’s International Research on Korea Grant promotes AHRD graduate students’ research collaboration on research in Korea. This grant provides $500 to the awardees to reimburse them for research and dissemination expenses for one year only, with eligibility to apply for a subsequent year. Eligible expenses might include, but are not limited to, gifts for participants during data collection; software; data analysis assistance, such as transcribers or translators; AHRD membership, registration for any AHRD conference where the outcome of the award is presented; and travel and lodging while at the conference.

Eligibility

Graduate students who are members of AHRD are eligible to apply with a research proposal.

A team of students, consisting of at least one Korean and one non-Korean, regardless of where they live, may submit one proposal. A faculty member may be part of the team in a mentor role, though he/she is not eligible to use the funds. The rationale for this eligibility criterion is our desire to expand interest in Korean HRD research, while wanting to ensure sensitivity to the Korean culture.

Students can find partners on the AHRD Facebook page or LinkedIn, or contact the Korea SIG chair, Heeyoung Han (hhan@siumed.edu), who will distribute your request.

Past recipients are eligible to apply in a subsequent year.

Application Process

Submit a proposal in electronic format in Word format (not .pdf).

The cover page should include:

Student names and affiliations

The title of the research project

The corresponding student’s email address and telephone number

Proposals must not exceed 3 single-spaced pages, in addition to the cover page, including:

Problem statement

Research purpose and questions

A brief review of the literature

Research methods

Anticipated outcomes and implications for HRD

Information dissemination plan (including presentation at one of the AHRD conferences)

Research project timeline (not exceeding one year, beginning with March following the award announcement at the February AHRD Conference in the Americas).

Submission Deadline

Submit a proposal by December 1, 2016, by e-mail to Dr. Han at (hhan@siumed.edu).

The Korea SIG Chair will form a three-person review panel.

The final decision will be announced at the AHRD in the Americas annual meeting in 2017.

Journal News

HRDQ

HRDQ

UFHRD Conference in Manchester, UK
The HRDQ Editorial Team participated in three events at the UFHRD Conference in Manchester:

Accolades and Accomplishments

Fulbright Awarded to AHRD Member

Photo courtesy of the University of Houston.

Consuelo L. Waight, PhD, has been selected for a Fulbright award to Belize. Dr. Waight is an Associate Professor in human resource development (HRD) and director of the executive and traditional options in the Master of Science in HRD degree in the College of Technology. In September, she will begin a semester at the University of Belize studying human resource capacity and needs, assist in the design and development of a leadership training institute at the University of Belize, and teach a course on design and management of training programs.

Final Thoughts

By Robin S. Grenier, Digest Editor, AHRD Board Member

It’s hard to believe that four months ago so many of us came together in Jacksonville, FL at the 2016 AHRD Conference in the Americas to reconnect with friends and colleagues, share our work, and celebrate the accomplishments of our peers. It is an excellent example of collegiality as it demonstrated how a diverse group of individuals can show respect for others despite differing views and perspectives on our work, research, and practice. This week in Florida, a very different kind of event occurred. I am deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and it has caused me to reflect on the question many of us have asked in recent days, “What can I do?”

Personally, I am struggling to answer that question. But while we continue to search for answers, we as a discipline must remain committed to our local communities, social justice, and fighting intolerance. We must demonstrate this through our research agendas, service, outreach, and teaching. For me, that means I will find ways to strengthen relationships among my students and my co-workers to promote, restore, and maintain the wellbeing of individuals and communities. I can do this through meaningful dialogue in the classroom and the office, by including readings and assignments that reflect and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, and by emphasizing that an act of a single individual should not cause us to fear an entire group of people. I hope you will join me in remembering those lost in this tragedy and in finding ways, both personally and through your participation in AHRD, to honor them by making a positive difference in organizations, classrooms, and communities.

Job Postings

Faculty Position in Technology Leadership & Innovation

Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana

The Organizational Leadership program in the Department of Technology Leadership & Innovation at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, invites applications for a tenure track faculty position beginning Fall 2017. This is an academic year appointment and the faculty rank will be commensurate with the candidate’s qualifications and experience. The position involves scholarship of discovery, teaching, and engagement as is required for tenure and/or promotion in rank. Read More

Lecturer, Organizational Leadership

Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania

RMU’s Organizational Leadership Department, which offers Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Organizational Leadership, is seeking a full-time Lecturer to primarily teach undergraduate courses. The successful candidate may participate in student advising and service opportunities, and will teach 8-week blended (partially online) and fully online courses in several areas, including applied leadership, leadership theory, conflict resolution, interpersonal communication and decision-making. Candidates must have a Master’s degree or doctoral degree in organizational leadership or a related field. A terminal degree, previous university teaching and some industry experience in applied leadership are preferred. Read More

Cost of posting:

Members - $25.00Non-Members - $100.00PEN Members - FREE

Posting information :

Job ads are posted for 90 days and are available to all members and non-members visiting the AHRD website. If you have any questions, please contact us at office@ahrd.org. PEN members, please email the office to complete the Job Posting Form.